All viewers remember Patricia Gaztañaga and her newspaper on Antena 3 that gave so many historical moments to television in Spain. Even those who did not experience the broadcast of El Diario de Patricia have seen, thanks to the internet and zapping programs, they have seen a moment of the format. What’s more, some have become memes and ‘stickers’ to share with friends and family.
Patricia’s Diary was a program that surprised the audience every afternoon thanks to the stories and confessions told by the program’s guests. Sometimes, there were moments so surreal that Patricia Gaztañaga herself found it difficult to hold back her laughter in front of the participants in the format. The Basque presenter for more than seven years was one more in our homes and that made her win the affection of the viewers.
Before the popular program that marked an entire generation, Patricia Gaztañaga already had a long professional career in the Basque Country. The presenter began her professional career in Los 40 Principales at just 17 years old and, after going through Radio Euskadi, ETB, she signed the Basque to present the youth program, Semáforo pop.
On the Basque television channel, Gaztañaga went through programs such as Give and Take between 1995 and 1997 or Al cabo de la calle and Qué pasa pues. In 1999, Patricia Gaztañaga began presenting Esta es mi gente, the program that would be the seed of El Diario de Patricia, on ETB2. This is my people aired every afternoon, Monday through Friday, and featured the life stories of various guests.
Such was the success of Esta es mi gente that Telemadrid and Canal Nou also decided to acquire the broadcasting rights. In addition, in 2001, the format made the leap to national television by the hand of Antena 3 and with the name we all know: El Diario de Patricia.
The Antena 3 afternoon program was on the air for 10 years, being the leader of its slot for a long time. In addition, he gave away moments that will always remain in the memory of the spectators and together with the Patricia Gaztañaga program he achieved great popularity.
However, in 2008, when El Diario de Patricia completed 1,500 programs and was the undisputed leader of its broadcast schedule, Patricia Gaztañaga announced her decision to leave the program and face new professional challenges. On July 9, 2008, Juan y Medio took over and later, the program was presented by Sandra Daviú until the end of the broadcasts in 2011.
After leaving the Antena 3 program, in 2010 Patricia Gaztañaga presented Cross weddings in Cuatro, a format in which several couples organized their wedding ceremonies. But the program was not very successful. The same thing happened to her with El marco, a format presented by the Basque company on Antena 3 that was canceled ten days after its premiere.
In the end, Patricia Gaztañaga decided to return to ETB with the Voy a mil contest in 2012. On the Basque channel, she was also in charge of other formats such as Ongi etorri, where she showed charming houses within the Basque geography, or And now what? and Like at home anywhere. In 2016, the Basque presenter returned to Spanish television with the program Cuestión de tiempo, but little by little Patricia Gaztañaga moved away from the media.
The Basque presenter changed her life on television in Madrid and came to prefer spending time near her family in Bilbao. Together with her husband, she has had two companies: Arzaga 2001 S.L, which is dedicated to developing activities within advertising, and Nikobe 2009, which had to close in 2014.
Currently, Patricia Gaztañaga continues to live in Bilbao with her husband, Iñaki Solaun, and their two daughters, aged 16 and 11. She is more, from what she shows on her social networks, she is happy and calm with her life outside of the small screen and, for now, she does not plan to return.
